Conventional hand-held electronic devices used to collect and send selected data, such as by scanning symbology or the like, are typically powered by rechargeable batteries. Power accessories, such as terminal docking stations or terminal docks, are often used to recharge the batteries when the device is not in use. A conventional terminal dock has a power cord connected to a power source, and the terminal dock removably receives a hand-held electronic device so as to provide power to recharge the batteries. A conventional terminal dock is also adapted for data transfer between the hand-held device and a computer system via a separate data transmission line.
When several terminal docks are used in a common location, they are typically mounted or ganged together in a side-by-side configuration. One ganging arrangement includes an elongated retention bracket to which all of the terminal docks are mechanically fastened, so the terminal docks are secured together by the same bracket. When several terminal docks are ganged together, all of the power cords and data transmission lines typically extend behind or below the terminal docks. These power cords and data transmission lines are easily tangled amongst themselves and can be difficult to manage, particularly when a terminal dock needs to be removed from the bracket and replaced.
Conventional "ganging" brackets include a long piece of metal extrusion sized to gang five individual terminal docks together. The power cords from each terminal dock are typically bundled together and separately plugged into a power source, so the terminal docks are not serially connected to the power source. Removing or replacing a terminal dock from this ganged configuration is burdensome because the terminal dock must be unfastened from the bracket, and the power cord and data transmission line must be untangled and extricated from the bundle of other power cords and data transmission lines. In addition, a space or gap in the ganging bracket results in an exposed portion of the bracket and cords when a terminal dock is removed from the bracket, which is undesirable.
The conventional ganging configuration also uses a single power module to which each of the power cords attach. Providing power from a single power module is inflexible and expensive, because the power module must be designed to power up multiple units, even though only one or two units are used. Therefore, there is a need for an improved, cost-efficient ganging configuration for any number of terminal docks while providing a high degree of flexibility and versatility.